The reviews which followed the publication of the Lyrical Ballads were
nearly all unfavourable. Even Southey discovered nothing in The Ancient
Mariner but "a Dutch attempt at German sublimity." A certain learned
pig thought it "the strangest story of a cock and bull that he ever saw
on paper," and not a single critic, not even the one or two who had any
praise to offer, discerned the secret of the book. The publisher was so
alarmed that he hastily sold his stock. Nevertheless Coleridge,
Wordsworth, and his sister quietly went off to Germany without the least
disturbance of their faith, and the Ballads are alive to this day.
SOME NOTES ON MILTON
Much of the criticism on Milton, if not hostile, is apologetic, and it
is considered quite correct to say we "do not care" for him. Partly
this indifference is due to his Nonconformity. The "superior"
Englishman who makes a jest of the doctrines and ministers of the
Established Church always pays homage to it because it is RESPECTABLE,
and sneers at Dissent. Another reason why Milton does not take his
proper place is that his theme is a theology which for most people is no
longer vital.
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